Berlin, 7 July 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The Netherlands came from behind to defeat Turkey 2-1 in Berlin on Saturday and reach the Euro 2024 semi-finals.

This is the first time in 20 years that the 1988 Euro winners reach a semi-final of an European Championships and they will now face Euro 2020 runners-up England on Wednesday in Dortmund.

"I think for the whole nation it's something special. We're a small nation and we're in the semi-finals with Spain, England and France and we're really proud to play the game on Wednesday," Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman said in a news conference.
Turkey took a deserved lead in the 35th minute thanks to Samet Akaydin's header. But the Oranje reorganized themselves in the second half to complete their comeback within six minutes.

Stefan De Vrij equalized in the 70th before Mert Müldür's scored an own goal in the 76th. Turkey's late pressure led nowhere and Dutch goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen made a stunning save in stoppage time to secure the win.

It was basically a home game for Turkey as some 200,000 people with Turkish roots live in Berlin and their fans in the stadium were loud. But that was not enough to disturb the Dutch.

"We must be proud of our team and I'm proud of our players. They played with the Turkish spirit. My opinion is that after this Euros, Turkey will be seen with different eyes, probably with more respect," Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella stressed

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in attendance, while, during the national anthem, several groups of Turkish fans gave the controversial wolf salute, which is attributed, among other things, to a far-right extremist movement.

Akaydin gives Turkey deserved lead

It was an end-to-end opening phase, with Cody Gakpo and Xavi Simmons going wide for the Netherlands in the first 15 minutes.

Turkey grew into the game and saw Abdulkerim Bardakci hook a shot over the bar in the 29th and Arda Güler's beautiful effort also going wide in the 32nd.

The Turkish side started dominating the offensive actions and took a deserved lead in the 35th. A corner was initially cleared by the Dutch defence, but Güler recovered the ball on the edge of the box a made a fine cross, completed into the net by Akaydin's header.

The Netherlands could have equalized early in the second half when substitute Wout Weghorst met a deep cross with a header across the goal to Memphis Depay, but the number 10 couldn't turn it into the net.

Turkey pay the price after missed chances

Turkey missed a huge chance when Güler hit the post from a free-kick in the 56th.

Hakan Çalhanoğlu's free-kick in the 65th was cleared by the Netherlands defence, but Kenan Yıldız recovered the ball on the edge of the box and shot goalwards, where Verbruggen made the save. The ball was loose inside the box, but it went out after Turkey failed to take the rebound.

That had a high cost for Turkey as the Netherlands completed a turnaround just 11 minutes later.

The equalizer came after Mert Günok saved Weghorst's effort from close range, sending the ball out. Depay took the resulting corner before receiving the ball back to send a cross to the area, completed to the goal by De Vrij's header in the 70th.

The lead came just six minutes later as Müldür tried to clear a cross but bundled the ball into the back of the net.

Turkey pushed for a late leveller with Zeki Çelik and Kerem Aktürkoğlu both taking aim from good positions but having their efforts blocked by Dutch defenders.

Gakpo had a chance to put the game to bed in the 89th but his effort was saved. Luckily, Verbruggen reacted well to Akturkoglu's effort from point-blank in stoppage time to keep Netherlands ahead and become the first nation qualified to the semi-finals to avoid extra time.

De Vrij said it was "a nice feeling" to score his first Netherlands goal since finding the net against Spain some nine years ago.

"It was a very important goal. In the second half we kept believing the spaces became bigger and bigger, we stayed patient and in the end it paid off," he said.

Çalhanoğlu recognized Turkey had a bad start into the second half but praised his team for coming this far.

"Losing happens in football. Our fans gave us a standing ovation at the end of the match, which is a good signal," he said.

Photo: UEFA Euro 2024